A stray cat showed up in a neighborhood in Lakewood, California and befriended someone who was kind to her.
Noemi Camacho came across a little stray from around her house. She offered some food and water, and the feline friend returned for more. Their bond began to grow, and then early this month, she noticed that the cat was pregnant and needed help.
Soon after she brought her home from the alleyway, the cat started going into labor and gave birth to four little kittens. While Noemi was checking on the newborns, she was surprised to find one kitten with a twisty leg and another with only three limbs.
She reached out to her community, knowing that this little family would need more help than she could provide.
Jacqueline DeAmor, co-founder of Friends for Life RescueNetwork, came across the plea and immediately responded. "She asked a friend to find a rescue, and I so happened to see the post on Facebook," Jacqueline told Love Meow.
The cat mom whom they named Nymeria, was a bit shy and nervous upon arrival at Friends for Life RescueNetwork. She let her rescuers examine her babies under her watchful eyes.
"She's a fiercely protective mama. She watches me very carefully when I'm handling them, and takes them back after I'm done weighing them."
Jacqueline started Troy, the kitten with a twisty leg, on physical therapy. "The tendons are too short and too tight. By massaging and stretching, we are able to hopefully stretch everything out permanently."
Over the next few days, his little leg began to improve as Jacqueline continued his daily treatment under the cat momma's supervision.
"After some massaging, I can get the leg and toes into a normal position and keep massaging to get the muscles to relax. The goal is to keep massaging multiple times a day to re-train those tendons to hold everything in a proper way," Jacqueline said.
Watch their journey in this video:
As for the 3-legged wonder, Gunther, he is starting to move around the nursery pen just like his siblings.
Missing a leg doesn't seem to slow him down.
The cat mom is beaming with pride with her kittens napping away in the comfort of a loving foster home.
"She loves them so much and is constantly doting on them. At first, I had to feed her in her nursing box because she wouldn't leave to eat," Jacqueline told Love Meow. "Now she purrs when I enter and rubs on my legs. She loves chin scratches."
She came back to the person who was kind to her and got help just in time. Her kittens were born in a safe home instead of outside in the alleyway.
The tiny bundles of fur are thriving!
Share this story with your friends. Follow updates on this adorable family on Friends for Life Rescue Network's Facebook page and Instagram.
Related story: Stray Cat Walks into Family's Home to Have Kittens When She Knows They are Kind